Our Mission
PLEASE NOTE:
During the COVID-19 public health emergency, New Hampshire Legal Assistance is OPEN. Masks are required in NHLA's offices. If you do not have a mask, we will give one to you. If you are feeling sick, please do not come to our offices. We can talk with you by telephone or video meeting instead. To apply for legal assistance, please visit www.603legalaid.org or call 603-224-3333
To fax documents to any NHLA office: 1-833-722-0271
NHLA was awarded the 2022 Nonprofit Impact Award from the New Hampshire Center for Nonprofits. Check out NHLA Executive Director, Sarah Mattson Dustin's, acceptance speech in the video below.
New Hampshire Legal Assistance is a nonprofit law firm working to make justice a reality for and with people who experience economic hardship that threatens their basic human needs. Through representation and systemic advocacy, NHLA offers civil legal aid that addresses the effects and root causes of poverty.
We offer our clients high-quality civil legal aid to address the legal problems that affect their daily survival and most basic needs. These services range from simple legal information and advice to vigorous and thorough representation in all of New Hampshire's courts and before many of the local, state and federal agencies which play large roles in their lives. In providing legal services to the poor, NHLA helps ensure the legal system provides the fairness and justice that all New Hampshire residents deserve.
NHLA does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, religion, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, and gender identity, in the delivery of services.
A note about this website: Clicking on the red "ESCAPE" button that appears next to our logo at the top of every page will give you a quick escape from the website. Computer use can be monitored and may be impossible to completely clear. If you are afraid your use of the internet or the computer may be monitored, use a secure computer, call a local domestic violence hotline, and/or call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1−800−799−7233 or TTY 1−800−787−3224.
NHLA priority issues
Legal aid at the doctor's office might help low-income patients
How local welfare should work: One client's story as told by her NHLA advocate
NHLA protects low-income tenants from the dangers of lead paint
NHLA, Pro Bono expand program to help low-income debtors
Our Offices
Berlin
Claremont
Concord
Manchester
Portsmouth
Administration
Testimonial

Truly thankful for the help...
I am truly thankful for the help, kindness, [and] treatment that I received right from the first person I talked to. I was very upset and at a very low point and that first person gave me gentle kindness.
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Latest News
Judge: Manchester Can Evict Homeless From Downtown Sidewalks
Posted Jan 19, 2023Superior Court Judge John Kissinger ruled Tuesday that the eviction of about 50 people living in tents on Manchester sidewalks can go ahead. The encampment is outside the Families in Transition shelter in the area of Pine and Manchester streets in downtown. “The Court believes the city should co ...read more
NHLA Advocate Elliott Berry to Retire After 47 Years of Service
Posted Nov 07, 2022Elliott Berry, a renowned and stalwart advocate for disadvantaged Granite Staters for close to 50 years, announced his upcoming retirement on October 31, 2022. Berry is the managing attorney and director of the Housing Justice Project for the Manchester office of New Hampshire Legal Assistance. Fol ...read more
Meet Rhonda Castle - NHLA's newest benefits paralegal
Posted Nov 04, 2022NHLA is happy to announce that Rhonda Castle has joined our Manchester office as a new paralegal working with our Benefits Project. Rhonda has already gotten a lot of hands-on experience over the last month working with Project Director Megan Dillon on social security cases. Her enthusiasm for this ...read more
Emergency Rental Assistance Program Paused
Posted Oct 21, 2022Given the announcement by the U.S. Treasury that New Hampshire will not receive any additional resources to continue its Emergency Rental Assistance program beyond December 29, 2022, New Hampshire Housing is announcing a pause to incoming applications under the NH Emergency Rental Assistance Program ...read more
All are welcome in New Hampshire
Posted Oct 20, 2022NHLA staff attorneys Meg Moran and Jillian Reihl were among 15 individuals representing immigration-focused organizations in New Hampshire who signed this submission to the Concord Monitor calling for fair and humane treatment of immigrant families. A Bhutanese man came with his young family f ...read more